Joining at Sixth Form
Joining at Sixth Form
At Sixth Form pupils choose between A Levels and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). For details of the Upper School subject choices please click here; however, these choices are subject to change for subsequent years.
An Explanation of the Sixth Form Entry Process
A four-month registration window, from June to September, opens a year in advance of the pupil’s proposed entry. To determine your child’s correct year of entry and closing date for registration, please click here.
Registration for entry in 2025 is now closed and will open for entry In 2026 in June 2025.
Decisions of places for September 2025 will be announced initially on 1 December 2024, but subsequent places will be offered to those placed on the Waiting List right up until September 2025.
Each year, we expect to offer places to around 60 new Sixth Form students (boarding and day). Boarding students will be allocated a place in our new co-educational Sixth Form house or one of our existing houses, day students are likely to be allocated to our day houses. Our new joiners will join an existing year group of roughly 200 students.
Stage One – Registration and documentation can you add (closed for entry in 2025)
There are two routes of entry; full fee (and likely means-tested fee-assistance awards of less than 90% of full fees) and significant (90% to 100%) means-tested fee-assistance and, having read the information fully, we ask you to select the appropriate route carefully.
As part of the registration process, students wishing to join the Wellington College Sixth Form are asked to upload their latest set of school reports, with grade predictions and summer exam results if available, and submit their personal statement using this template. Please do have the report and personal statement ready when you register. Our preference is for students to delay the application until their latest report is available.
To register a student via the full fee route, or for fee assistance requests below 90%, we ask for a non-refundable registration fee £360 (£300 + VAT). We must stress that this registration fee is non-refundable however far we decide to take the candidate’s application. This reflects the fact that we put an enormous amount of effort and thought into every application before we choose who to select for each stage of the process. All applicants via this route will be examined remotely and short list selection (after Stage Two below) will take into account information from the personal statement, school reports and the exam results. The non-refundable registration fee can be paid by credit or debit card to complete the process.
Registration for the significant fee-assistance route (90%-100%) does not require a registration fee to be paid. We will, however, ask for a confidential ‘statement of financial position’ form to be completed and sent to us before Stage Two – Exams. This form can be sent directly by families or by any organisation with which they are working (e.g. Royal Springboard). Unfortunately, we do not have financial resources to support every pupil requiring fee assistance and so we are likely, reluctantly, to reject some candidates before Stage Two (below).
Stage Two – Exams
After the registration deadline, we will write with further information on the assessment and selection. The process is summarised below.
Cognitive ability tests will be taken at home using digital software. For entry in September 2025, the exams may be taken between Tuesday 1 – Friday 4 October.
In mid-October, invitations to the short list stages will be sent out by email to selected candidates. Some candidates will be informed that we will not be taking their application any further.
References from current schools will be requested for candidates selected for Stage Three.
Stage Three – Interviews and Assessment Days
Candidates selected for Stage 3 will be invited to book a pastoral interview. For entry in September 2025, these interviews will be conducted virtually over Microsoft Teams and will take place in the week commencing 4 November.
In the week commencing 11 November we will host assessment days at Wellington College and specialist academic interviews will be offered via Microsoft Teams to those unable to travel easily to Wellington College. We would recommend traveling to Wellington for an assessment day if this is possible so that the full culture of Wellington can be experienced and understood.
These assessment days will consist of a mixture of lessons, discussions, critical thinking and problem solving activities. Students will have the opportunity to have a tour of the school, the chance to hear from our Sixth Form team, Higher Education specialists and curriculum leads and, of course, to ask lots of questions. We will aim to provide an authentic experience of life at Wellington and a chance to experience the culture of the school first-hand.
Scholarships
A range of honorary scholarships is offered annually, with awards for excellence in academics, sports, music, art, dance and drama. Please visit the Scholarship pages for more details. You will be given the option to apply for scholarship assessment via our online registration form.
Fee-assisted Places
Full information on our various financial aid options can be found here. Families are asked to estimate the level of fee-assistance that they are likely to require (our fees can be found here) before selecting the route via which to register their child.
Families likely to require less than a 90% reduction in the fees are asked to register via the full fees route. Financial forms will be sent out after the closing date for completion by 10th November.
If you are in any doubt about this or have any questions, please contact the Admissions Department: Tel: +44 (0)1344 444013 Email: admissions@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
Overseas Sixth Form Applicants – UKiset
Any candidate for whom English is not their first language, whether studying currently in the UK or abroad, who wishes to apply for 16+ entry should complete UKiset, an online test designed for international pupils which measures ability over three areas: Vocabulary, Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning. UKiset can be taken in any approved testing centre around the world and must be completed by 30th September for any international pupil’s application to be considered.
"Applicants from the UK and around the world are attracted by our excellent teaching, the breadth of academic and co-curricular opportunities, our stunning facilities and the wonderful pre-university experience we provide."
Phil Mann
